EU Called Upon to Double Budget for Research

RWTH Aachen University supports call of European associations of universities. Budgets have come up short so far.

 

The big European university networks have appealed to Brussels institutions to double the budget for research, innovation and education in the next Framework Program. RWTH Aachen explicitly supports this demand. "As European associations of universities, we call upon the European Commisssion, the European Parliament, and the European Council to double the budget for research, innovation and education in the upcoming Multi-Annual Financial Framework.

A doubling of the budget of the 9th EU Framework Program for Research & Innovation - as has already been requested by the EU-Committee Group chaired by Pascal Lamy - would create an estimated 650,000 jobs by 2040 and add around 0.46% to GDP over the same period," according to the joint statement issued, among others, by university associations CESAER and IDEA-League, in which RWTH Aachen is a partner.

This doubling of expenses for Research, Innvoation and Education would enable the EU to emerge as a global leader in areas like future-energy batteries, smart and clean buildings and vehicles, infectious diseases, and the circular economy. At the same time, it would stimulate more inclusive and resilient societies, increase sustainable growth and reduce inequality in Europe, the statement continues. Even though Horizon 2020 is the largest framework program for research and innovation to date, it is, according to the university associations, still underfunded with its current budget of 80 billion euros for a period of 7 years. In some parts of Horizon 2020, the current budget supports less than one out of five high quality research proposals.

Further information can be found on the webpages of the IDEA-League and CESAER.